You would also enjoy "The Butterflies of Cascadia" by Robert Michael Pyle. So much info I'd never dreamed of about butterflies. There's a review of the book at http://oregonmag.com/Whitcomb503.htm
I've always thought spiders were very intelligent, and I've not been prone to challenge them (unless they're crawling across the ceiling as I'm about to go to bed -- then it's -- KILL!)
You really were very brave photo-ing this spider! Thanks for sharing the experience.
